The present invention relates to a wall mounted air conditioner used by being mounted on a wall surface of a room and, more particularly, to an air conditioner equipped with an air cleaner.
In many cases, air conditioners are operated in a closed room, so that dust, smoke of tobacco, soot, odor, and other substances circulate in the room by being carried on an airflow sent from the air conditioner, which sometimes produces an uncomfortable feeling or provides an unhealthy environment.
Although an air filter formed of a woven cloth, fine mesh, or the like is provided in an air inlet of the air conditioner, the air filter of this type cannot remove fine and invisible substances such as smoke of tobacco, soot and odor.
In recent years, therefore, air conditioners equipped with an electrostatic precipitator have been proposed. An example of such an air conditioner will be described with reference to FIG. 6. This air conditioner 1 basically includes a base plate 2 fixed on a wall surface inside a room with, for example, screws, and a front panel 3 held by the base plate 2. The front panel 3 comprises a housing whose back face is open, and the back face side thereof is fixed to the base plate 2.
The front panel 3 has a first air inlet 3a formed on the front face thereof, and a second air inlet 3b formed on the top face facing the ceiling surface of the room. Also, an air outlet 4 is formed on the lower side of the front face of the front panel 3, and flaps 4a for regulating the direction of a wind are provided in the air outlet 4 so as to be turnable.
In an air passage in the front panel 3 ranging from the air inlets 3a and 3b to the air outlet 4 are provided a heat exchanger 5 and a fan 6.
In this case, the heat exchanger 5 is divided into a first heat exchanger 5a arranged substantially vertically along the first air inlet 3a, a second heat exchanger 5b arranged adjacently to the upper end of the first heat exchanger 5a so as to be inclined at a predetermined angle toward the back face side of the front panel 3, and a third heat exchanger 5c arranged adjacently to the upper end of the second heat exchanger 5b so as to extend downward slantwise along the base plate 2. Refrigerant pipes for these heat exchangers 5a, 5b and 5c communicate with each other.
An electrostatic precipitator 7 is provided at a portion having an enough space above the second heat exchanger 5b. 
According to this air conditioner 1, some of the air sucked through the air inlets 3a and 3b by the operation of the fan 6 passes through the electrostatic precipitator 7, by which the air in the room is cleaned.
However, for example, even if the air in the room is contaminated heavily and it is to be desired that air cleaning operation be performed in preference to cooling/heating operation and dehumidifying operation, only some of the sucked air passes through an air cleaner 7, which leads to a decrease in a total dust collecting efficiency.
According to the present invention, at least cooling/heating operation and air cleaning operation can be changed over appropriately, and especially air cleaning operation can be performed effectively.
Also, according to the present invention, even at the time of air cleaning operation, a fan can be operated without any surging phenomenon taking place.
Specifically, a first mode of the invention provides an air conditioner comprising: a base plate fixed to a wall surface inside a room; a front panel comprising a housing whose back face is open, the back face side of which is held by the base plate; the front panel being provided with a first air inlet formed on the front face side facing the back face, a second air inlet formed on the top face side of the front panel, a third air inlet formed between the first and second air inlets, and an air outlet formed on the lower side of the front face of the front panel; said front panel being provided inside thereof with heat exchange means having a first heat exchanger facing the first air inlet, a second heat exchanger facing the second air inlet, a third heat exchanger facing the third air inlet, and a fan arranged in an air passage ranging from the heat exchange means to the air outlet; the first air inlet being provided with first opening/closing means which is opened and closed by first driving means, and the second air inlet being provided with second opening/closing means which is opened and closed by second driving means, and an electrostatic precipitator being disposed between the third air inlet and the third heat exchanger; wherein according to the operation mode of the air conditioner, the first and second opening/closing means are controlled as described below.
At the time of cooling/heating operation, both of the first and second air inlets are xe2x80x9cfully openedxe2x80x9d by the first and second opening/closing means, respectively.
At the time of cooling/heating operation when air cleaning operation is performed preferentially, both of the first and second air inlets are xe2x80x9chalf openedxe2x80x9d by the first and second opening/closing means, respectively. The word xe2x80x9chalf openedxe2x80x9d means a state between the fully opened state and the fully closed state.
At the time of air cleaning operation, both of the first and second air inlets are xe2x80x9cfully closedxe2x80x9d by the first and second opening/closing means, respectively.
Also, the first mode of the invention is characterized in that at the time of dehumidifying operation, either one of the first and second opening/closing means is xe2x80x9cfully closed,xe2x80x9d and the other thereof is xe2x80x9cfully opened.xe2x80x9d
In the first mode of the invention, the heat exchangers of the heat exchange means are preferably arranged in a xcex9 (lambda) shape. That is, it is preferable that the first heat exchanger be arranged substantially vertically along the first air inlet, the second heat exchanger be arranged adjacently to the upper end of the first heat exchanger so as to be inclined at a predetermined angle toward the back face side of the front panel, and the third heat exchanger be arranged adjacently to the upper end of the second heat exchanger so as to extend downward slantwise along the base plate.
In case of this xcex9-shaped arrangement, at the time of dehumidifying operation, the first air inlet is xe2x80x9cfully closed,xe2x80x9d and contrarily the second air inlet is xe2x80x9cfully opened.xe2x80x9d
The first mode of the invention embraces several preferable modes and equivalent techniques described below.
Preferably, the first opening/closing means comprises a plurality of first louvers pivotally supported in the first air inlet so as to be turnable with the axis of rotation being horizontal, and a first slide plate driven along the first air inlet in a reciprocating manner by the first driving means, and on the back face of each of the first louvers is provided a first connecting arm connected to the first slide plate, by which the first louvers are turned synchronously by the first slide plate.
Likewise, preferably, the second opening/closing means comprises a plurality of second louvers pivotally supported in the second air inlet so as to be turnable with the axis of rotation being horizontal, and a second slide plate driven along the second air inlet in a reciprocating manner by the second driving means, and on the back face of each of the second louvers is provided a second connecting arm connected to the second slide plate, by which the second louvers are turned synchronously by the second slide plate.
Also, the connecting arm may be provided on the side of the first and second slide plates to synchronously turn the louvers.
Preferably, the first driving means comprises a first cam engaged with the first slide plate and a first motor for driving the first cam, and the second driving means comprises a second cam engaged with the second slide plate and a second motor for driving the second cam.
As the first and second motors, a stepping motor, which can control the rotational angle with high accuracy, is preferably used.
In place of the combination of the cam and motor, the first driving means may be formed of a first plunger provided with a first connecting element connected to the first slide plate, and the second driving means may be formed of a second plunger provided with a second connecting element connected to the second slide plate. In this case, the first and second connecting elements are preferably formed of an elastic material.
A second mode of the invention is characterized by having the constituent features described below in addition to the above-described constituent features of the first mode of the invention.
That is, a wind direction guider for changing the opening area of the air outlet is provided on the lower side of the air outlet so as to be turnable, and at the time of air cleaning operation, both of the first and second air inlets are xe2x80x9cfully closedxe2x80x9d by the first and second opening/closing means, respectively, and the wind direction guider is turned so as to decrease the opening area of the air outlet.
At the time of cooling/heating operation, both of the first and second air inlets are xe2x80x9cfully openedxe2x80x9d by the first and second opening/closing means, respectively, and the wind direction guider is turned so as to increase the opening area of the air outlet.
Also, at the time of cooling/heating operation when air cleaning operation is performed preferentially, both of the first and second air inlets are xe2x80x9chalf openedxe2x80x9d by the first and second opening/closing means, respectively, and the wind direction guider is turned so as to increase the opening area of the air outlet.
At the time of dehumidifying operation, either one of the first and second opening/closing means is xe2x80x9cfully closed,xe2x80x9d and the other thereof is xe2x80x9cfully opened,xe2x80x9d and the wind direction guider is turned so as to decrease the opening area of the air outlet.
As driving means for the wind direction guider, a stepping motor is preferably used.